Virtual memory low

Can't agree more.
I just fixed a PC for a friend that only
had 256MB of memory and Integrated video.
To make matters even worse the hard drive was
a 5400RPM with a transfer rate of 25MB/s so
it was horribly slow. It has a 2.2GHz processor
but my old Dell 933MHz with 512MB memory
and Video card could outperform it.

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com



"Mike Hall - MVP" wrote in message
...
"Gerry" wrote in message
...
Shenan

Adding RAM does not help if the CPU capacity is low and the system
performance bottleneck. We don't know in this case what the CPU is.


--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Shenan Stanley wrote:
Azy wrote:
My 40 GB HD is about 50% used ( i have 20.5 gb free space)
I understand everyone saying that I could use more ram than the
256 I currently have. But knowing that i only have the 256, what
chould i set my virtual paging file size to be for all drives?
RIGHT now its set to 484 MB. ALso, I checked the box to "Compress
drive to save disk space"...what will this do and is it a goo thing
to do? It was unchecked before.

Thread hijack.

Leave it at "System Managed Size" -- purchase more memory and
install it. Try to bring your machine to 1GB.

http://www.crucial.com/
Use the "Crucial Memory AdvisorT tool" and/or "Crucial System Scanner
tool" to figure out what you need/can get.

Ignore/disable the compression thing - you don't need to do it (you
still have 50% of your drive free) and it might be noticable
(decrease in performance) on a system such as yours.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP



Gerry

There is a very good chance that the machine has an integrated video card,
in which case only 192mb will be available for whatever is going down..

It is almost impossible to find older processors which one could trust,
but easy to find and fit extra memory. Pagefile usage will be cut by half,
and the whole machine will feel more sprightly..


--

Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/

Shenan

I was just trying to make the point that adding RAM is not always the
best solution. If the CPU is not up to the task then it can be a better
decision to replace the computer. At some point the user has to evaluate
whether it is better to build on what they have or to start again.
Replacing the CPU can be done by replacing the motherboard but my
experiemce has been that you can also end up replacing other components
like power supply units etc as well.

In your response you could be wrongly assuming that "the system is able
to run Windows XP". This is a 7 year old computer. The computer was not
designed
for the programmes of today. Windows XP SP3 is much more demanding than
Windows XP SP1. Adding RAM is not the only way to reduce over reliance
on the pagefile. Adding RAM to eliminate low Virtual memory messages is
not what the exercise should be about. We all agree that 256 mb of RAM
is insufficient for most users to have a saisfactory experience when
running Windows XP. What I was questioning was whether adding RAM was
going to offer the best longer term solution.

Mike has mentioned hard drives. If this computer has a slower drive then
you could spend money and replace the drive. My position is that where
you have a 7 year old computer you have to look at all potentional
bottlenecks before spending more money on a computer near the end of
it's useful life.

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Gerry wrote:
Adding RAM does not help if the CPU capacity is low and the system
performance bottleneck. We don't know in this case what the CPU is.

If the system is able to run Windows XP now and there is only 256MB
now - there is a 99% chance they *would* see an increase in
performance if they increase their total amount of memory,
reguardless of the CPU power.
Yes - they could also increase their overall performance if they
increased CPU - but the least expensive, easiest hardware upgrade
they could perform that would have the highest likelihood of
improving performance is an increase in physical memory - they will
get nothing out of what they are trying to do.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP

Shenan

It was not Mike that made the point about hard drives. It was JS. Mike
mentioned graphics. Their points just emphasise the importance of
looking at the whole machine and not just availability of RAM when
contemplating a hardware upgrade.

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shenan Stanley wrote:
Azy wrote:
My 40 GB HD is about 50% used ( i have 20.5 gb free space)
I understand everyone saying that I could use more ram than the
256 I currently have. But knowing that i only have the 256, what
chould i set my virtual paging file size to be for all drives?
RIGHT now its set to 484 MB. ALso, I checked the box to "Compress
drive to save disk space"...what will this do and is it a goo thing
to do? It was unchecked before.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
Thread hijack.

Leave it at "System Managed Size" -- purchase more memory and
install it. Try to bring your machine to 1GB.

http://www.crucial.com/
Use the "Crucial Memory AdvisorT tool" and/or "Crucial System
Scanner tool" to figure out what you need/can get.

Ignore/disable the compression thing - you don't need to do it (you
still have 50% of your drive free) and it might be noticable
(decrease in performance) on a system such as yours.

Gerry wrote:
Adding RAM does not help if the CPU capacity is low and the system
performance bottleneck. We don't know in this case what the CPU is.

If the system is able to run Windows XP now and there is only 256MB
now - there is a 99% chance they *would* see an increase in
performance if they increase their total amount of memory,
reguardless of the CPU power.
Yes - they could also increase their overall performance if they
increased CPU - but the least expensive, easiest hardware upgrade
they could perform that would have the highest likelihood of
improving performance is an increase in physical memory - they will
get nothing out of what they are trying to do.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP

Mike Hall - MVP wrote:
"Gerry" wrote in message
...
Shenan

Adding RAM does not help if the CPU capacity is low and the system
performance bottleneck. We don't know in this case what the CPU is.


--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Shenan Stanley wrote:
Azy wrote:
My 40 GB HD is about 50% used ( i have 20.5 gb free space)
I understand everyone saying that I could use more ram than the
256 I currently have. But knowing that i only have the 256, what
chould i set my virtual paging file size to be for all drives?
RIGHT now its set to 484 MB. ALso, I checked the box to "Compress
drive to save disk space"...what will this do and is it a goo thing
to do? It was unchecked before.

Thread hijack.

Leave it at "System Managed Size" -- purchase more memory and
install it. Try to bring your machine to 1GB.

http://www.crucial.com/
Use the "Crucial Memory AdvisorT tool" and/or "Crucial System
Scanner tool" to figure out what you need/can get.

Ignore/disable the compression thing - you don't need to do it (you
still have 50% of your drive free) and it might be noticable
(decrease in performance) on a system such as yours.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP



Gerry

There is a very good chance that the machine has an integrated video
card, in which case only 192mb will be available for whatever is
going down..
It is almost impossible to find older processors which one could
trust, but easy to find and fit extra memory. Pagefile usage will be
cut by half, and the whole machine will feel more sprightly..

With that tiny amount of RAM and knowing it's running XP there's almost
no way it could be otherwise. I'll bet virtual ram is pretty high; it
has to be.

Mike Hall - MVP wrote:
"Gerry" wrote in message
...
Shenan

Adding RAM does not help if the CPU capacity is low and the system
performance bottleneck. We don't know in this case what the CPU is.


--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Shenan Stanley wrote:
Azy wrote:
My 40 GB HD is about 50% used ( i have 20.5 gb free space)
I understand everyone saying that I could use more ram than the
256 I currently have. But knowing that i only have the 256, what
chould i set my virtual paging file size to be for all drives?
RIGHT now its set to 484 MB. ALso, I checked the box to "Compress
drive to save disk space"...what will this do and is it a goo thing
to do? It was unchecked before.

Thread hijack.

Leave it at "System Managed Size" -- purchase more memory and
install it. Try to bring your machine to 1GB.

http://www.crucial.com/
Use the "Crucial Memory AdvisorT tool" and/or "Crucial System
Scanner tool" to figure out what you need/can get.

Ignore/disable the compression thing - you don't need to do it (you
still have 50% of your drive free) and it might be noticable
(decrease in performance) on a system such as yours.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP



Gerry

There is a very good chance that the machine has an integrated video
card, in which case only 192mb will be available for whatever is
going down..
It is almost impossible to find older processors which one could
trust, but easy to find and fit extra memory. Pagefile usage will be
cut by half, and the whole machine will feel more sprightly..

With that tiny amount of RAM and knowing it's running XP there's almost
no way it could be otherwise. I'll bet virtual ram is pretty high; it
has to be.